Process for making balloons



0d- 15 1946 J. A. HAGEN 'E1-Al. 2,409,486

f rnocns's Fon muuu@ moons Qfigm'amiled oet; 25; 1944 `Nvt-moles. y Jalan?. Hagen [dumme mdeggas Edmund Z. (iff 0r 55 4Z. nv

Mn 5M ATTORNEY Patented Oct. 15, 1946 PROCESS FOR MAKING BALLOONS John A. Hagen, Glen Rock, Edmund L. Gregor, Ramsey, and Laurence Prendergast, Passaic, N. J., assignors to Molded Latex Products, Inc.,

Passaic, N. J., a corporation of New Jersey Original application October 25, 1944, Serial No. 560,240. Divided and this application July 18, 1945, Serial No. 605,779

This invention relates to a process for making a barrage balloon. The balloon is made up of a casing of strong flexible non-elastic material and a leak-proof inflatable bladder which is provided with end pieces of rigid solid material, such as metal. This is a division of Hagen et al. application Serial No. 560,240, filed October 25, 1944.

The outer skin or casing is made of g-ussets or strips of cloth such as nylon sewed together and the bladder is seamless rubber. When filled With gas the balloon will lift a weight which is as great or greater than itself to a height of several hundred feet under normal atmospheric conditions. The wall of the bladder may be Vaboutfive to eight thousandths of an inch thick `when uninflated and the body portions about one-to-one, and a half thousandths of an inch when inflated, While the end portions are not so thin as thebody portions are when inflated, for a purpose to be explained.

Conventional barrage balloons consist of an envelope made up of a layer or layers of fabric coated or impregnated with rubber or rubber-like substances and securely seamed and cemented at the seams to make them gas-tight. This makes a bulky balloon which has a dead Weight free lift ratio of 2 to 1 or higher.

One of the objects of this invention is to obviate the difficulties encountered with the older sorts of balloons, and to make one which, while light, will be comparatively rugged to withstand the forces encountered in use and at the same time will have a dead weight free lift ratio of less than 2 to 1. To accomplish these ends our balloon has Yboth a thin-walled and seamless rubber bladder and a casing, this casing being preferably of light strong fabric such as nylon. lt has been found in practice that such a balloon can lift a greater Weight than the conventional 'fabric v balloons of the same cubic capacity.

` Furthermore, it has heretofore been impractical or unknown to make seamless rubber bladders in the shape of a barrage balloon and of such size as would provide appreciable lifting capacity and at the same time be impervious to gases and be rugged.

This invention may be 4understood from the description in connection with the accompanying drawing in which y Fig. 1 is a section through a cylinder and container that may be used in forming the bladder;

Fig. 2 is a section showing the bladder removed and metal discs in place;

Fig. 3 is a side View of the bladder on a smaller scale showing a part of the process;

Fig. 4 is a section showing how a metal disc is permanently attached to the bladder; and

Fig. 5 is a bottom View of the completed device.

7 Claims. (Cl. 244-31) In carrying out the invention either natural or synthetic rubber may be used for making the bladder. The invention will be particularly described in connection with the use of sunlightresistant neoprene latex for making the bladder.

An aluminum cylinder I Which may for example be about a foot in diameter, six feet long and, have a wall thickness of about a quarter of an inch, has its inner surface smooth and polished. End plates 2 and 3 are provided for closing the ends of this cylinder and may be kept in place by wing nuts Il. I p 4000 c. c. of neoprene latex compound which has been made heat-sensitive by the addition of 480 c. c. of approximately 10% aqueous ammonium nitrate solution is introduced into cylinder I and Vthe end plates 2 and 3 are clamped `in place. Cylinder I is then placed on bearings 5 on container 6 so that the longitudinal elements ofV its inner surface are horizontal. Container 6 has previously been filled with Water at -180 F. to such a height that cylinder I is immersed to a depth of several inches, thereby heating cylinder I and its contents. As soon as cylinder I is placed on bearings 5 it is rotated at a speed of 10 to 20 R. P. M. to distribute the latex uniformly over its inner surface. The rotation is continued until all of `the latex compound has gelled. The heat of the water in container 6 is transferred through cylinder I to the latex compound which gels in thin layers which build up one on another until al1 of the latex compound is gelled to a cylinder of uniform wall thickness. This requires about two minutes. The cylinder may be rotated at a speed of 200 to 500 R. P. M., thereby distributing the latex compound to a uniform layer by centrifugal force. The mold is then cooled to room temperature which may be done by rotating it in a similar way in cold water.

The sof-t flexible cylindrical gel L is then removed from the mold.

Aluminum discs 8 and 9, Fig. 2, are then attached to the open ends of the cylindrical gel L to close them. One of these discs is provided with a central opening I0 through which air may be introduced by a nozzle for inflating the cylinder.

The discs 8 and 9 are provided with inwardly extending flanges II having annular grooves I2 around them. The ends of the cylinder L overlap these flanges and are bound in place by wrapping cloth tape I4 around where the grooves I2 are located. Cords I5 may then be wrapped around the tapes and tied in place.

The cylindrical gel or bladder is then inflated by Vintroducing air from a nozzle I6 (Figj) that fits in the hole I0 while the bladder rests upon a flat surface such as the floor or a table. In order to prevent weak or thin spots that may be present in the bladder from inflating too rapidly and bursting before other'parts are sufficiently inflated, non-elastic cloth girdles, such as the one indicated at I8, that may be made of cheesecloth for example, are put on the inflated bladder I9 to restrict the diameter to which expansion is permitted to about five feet. Each of the girdles may be about three feet long and the rst one is placed over the portion of the bladder that first reaches about a five foot diameter during the inflating operation. Other girdles, not shown on the drawing, are added as the ination proceeds with edges overlapping about three inches until the bladder is sufficiently inflated. During the inflating time the bladder is turned so that different portions rest upon the iloor as the inflation proceeds.

The position of the first inflation bulge is controlled by pressing by hand upon places Where the bulge .is not desired while the air is being introduced. It is desirable to cause the first bulge to appear near the center as this cause-s the thickness of the cylindrical portion of the wall to be more uniform and reduces the danger of the 'bladder bursting during the introduction of the air.

`By this process the bladder is inflated with substantially even wall thickness and uniform diam eter along the cylindrical portion thereof leaving the end portions with greater thickness particularly Where they are attached to the discs 8 and 9, thus reducing the danger of rupture where the discs are attached. The bladder is then about live feet in diameter and about twenty-six feet long. The bladder is then permitted to dry in the air for a few hours. It is then partially deflated and a thin film of talc is applied inside and out to prevent portions of the surface thereof that might be brought into contact with other portions from adhering to each other.

The aluminum discs 8 and 9 are removed and the bladder may be pre-shrunk when desired by heating it to 50-'70 C- for about 15 minutes.

Two permanent aluminum discs, such as the disc `213 shown in Fig. 4, each having a flange 216 corresponding to the flanges II on discs 8 and 9 are securely anchored in the openings at opposite ends of the bladder I9. As indicated on a larger scale in Fig. 4, this is done by first wrapping a few plies of rubber tape 2.8 around in the groove in the flange 26 of each disc 124 and then inserting the two flanges into openings at opposite ends of the bladder I9, where the neoprene had already .been correspondingly shaped by flanges I I to t into the annular grooves 3i! in the ilanges 25. The ends of the bladder are cemented to the rubber tapes 28 by means of neoprene cement. Then layers of cord 32 are-wrapped around the ends of the bladder I9 to hold the discs securely in place with their flanges 2S fitting in the correspondingly shaped ends of the bladder.

The casi-ng 33 (Fig. 5) for the balloon is made of nylon which is not Water or gas-proof. It consists of a cylindrical portion 35, a hemispherical head portion 3S and a truncated cone tail portion 37. It is provided with openings 38 and 39 in the tail and head portions respectively. The bladder I9 is introduced into the casing through the opening 38 in the tail portion. The forward disc 24 of the bladder is pulled through the opening in the nose 39 of the casing 33 and is fastened to the head end of the casing by a draw string that is tightened around the outside of the flange 26 of disc 4 24. The disc in the other end of the bladder I9 is secured in the end 38 of the casing in a simllar way. The balloon is inflated in the usual way. The nylon casing 33 is made up of strips.

Fins 40 connected by braces 4I are provided 'on the tail portion of the balloon and an anchoring rope or cord of nylon, not shown, is attached to the balloon at several places 42 in the known way.

A flexible insert 44 extends longitudinally of the casing 33 with its edges attached to the edges 45 along longitudinal seams in this casing. Transverse elastic cords 46 are provided to bring the edges 45 closer together when needed to adjust the diameter of thev casing 32.

What is claimed is:

v1. The process of making a balloon which comprises preparing an elastic bladder with vmetal discs anchored therein, preparing a casing of substantially inelastic material having openings at opposite ends thereof. inserting said bladder through one of said .openings and anchoring said discs in said openings.

2. The process of making a balloon which comprises preparing an elastic bladder with metal discs anchored therein, preparing a casing of substantially inelastic material having openings at opposite ends thereof, inserting said bladder through one of said openings and anchoring said discs in said openings by binding the ends of said casing to said discs.

3. The process oi making a balloon which comprises preparing a cylinder of coagulated latex with flanged discs attached to its ends, removing said discs, subsequently anchoring said discs securely in place in said bladder and attaching said bladder by means of said discs to the casing of said balloon.

4. The process of making a balloon which comprises preparing a cylinder of coagulated latex with flanged discs attached to its ends, removing said discs, subsequently anchoring said discs securely in place in said bladder and attaching said bladder by applying rubber tape between said bladder and said discs.

5. The process of making a balloon which comprises preparing a cylinder of coagulated latex with flanged discs attached to its ends, removing said discs. subsequently anchoring said discs securely in place in said bladder and attaching said bladder by applying rubber tape between said bladder and said discs and wrapping cord around the ends of said bladder.

6. The process of making a balloon which comprises preparing an elastic bladder with anged metal discs anchored therein, preparing a casing of substantially inelastic material having openings at opposite ends thereof, inserting said bladder through one of said openings and anchoring said discs in said openings by binding the ends of said casing lto the flanges of said discs.

'7. The process of making a balloon which comprises preparing an elastic bladder with flanged metal discs anchored therein, preparing a casing of substantially inelastic material having openings at opposite ends thereof, inserting said bladder through one of said openings and anchoring said discs in said openings by binding the ends of said vcasing to the flanges of said discs with convolutions of a cord.

JOHN A. HAGEN. EDMUND L. GREGOR. LAURENCE PRENDERGAST. 

